“razor-sharp reactions to a constantly shifting musical landscape… delivered in spades.” – bebop spoken here

In mid-2023, John will be recording his original music for the first time, with Alex Hitchcock, Jay Davis, Jonny Mansfield, and Nikki Iles as producer. See the press release for further information.

Hailing from Saltburn-by-the-sea in northeast England, John Williamson began as an electric bassist alongside temporary work in academic physics, while living in Leeds, Washington DC, and now London. Known for his musical ear, creativity and strong sight-reading, he is at home in small and large ensembles ranging from straight-ahead jazz to contemporary originals projects.

Since arriving in the capital he has played alongside many of the city’s finest, including Jason Brown, Nigel Price, Emma Rawicz, Sam Leak, Alex Garnett, Gene Calderazzo, Dominic Ingham, Jonny Mansfield, Jo Harrop, Nat Steele, Pete Horsfall, Trevor Mires, Nick Costley-White, Gene Calderazzo, Hannes Riepler, Matt Anderson, Rachael Cohen, and Sam Braysher.

In 2020, shortly after taking up the double bass, John won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he is tutored by an array of luminaries including Kit Downes, Nikki Iles, Jim Hart and Orlando Le Fleming.

In Washington DC he was house bassist for the prestigious Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra led by Joe Herrera and Brad Linde, performing rep concerts under Miho Hazama and Nathan Parker Smith. He recorded twice for Linde’s avant-garde/Americana project Team Players with Billy Wolfe, Aaron Quinn and Deric Dickens, and played regularly alongside David McDonald (Airmen of Note), Kevin McDonald (US Navy Commodores), Marty Nau, Anthony Pirog, among others. In Leeds, he was bassist and MD for the Leeds University Union Big Band, including performances at the North Sea Jazz Festival and on ITV, and performed with musicians such as Steve Hanley, Martin Longhawn and Ben Lowman.

John is an endorsing artist for Nordstrand Audio’s electric basses, uses Aguilar and Genzler amps and cabs, and has been kindly supported by a postgraduate award from Help Musicians. He uses and endorses Hyperoptic broadband in his explorations of online real-time audio. John is often asked to assemble bands for functions in London and further afield — click here for more information. [Photo credit: John Hartley]

Album recording press release: download

High-res photos (credits in filename): download

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